One True Knight (The Knights of Honor Trilogy) (26 page)

When she reached him, Ava scrambled down from her palfrey.

“Sir Jared,” she said, breathless. She looked at him, a frightened expression on her face. “Send help! Lady Rowena has been abducted!”

It took a split second to register what Ava was telling him. “Abducted?” he repeated in disbelief.

She nodded. “I — we need your help to find her.”

He grabbed Ava’s arms, holding her still. “Take a deep breath,” he commanded. “Tell me what happened. Who are they that you speak of?”

She took in a shaky breath. “We went to meet Sir Jonathan at the stables, and two men appeared, men whom I have never seen before in my life, and they attacked us!” She brought her hands together, trying to steady the trembling. “I did not know what to do. Lady Rowena, she slapped my horse and ordered me to get help. I did not want to leave her,” she said, biting her bottom lip. “By my honor, I would never want her to face those two horrid men on her own.”

He straightened his back, the pain in his body forgotten. “We need to inform Sir Philip and send out a rescue party,” he said. “When did this attack occur?”

“Just now,” she said, twisting her fingers in the white apron that she wore. “I rode straight from the stables.”

“We need to act quickly and find Lady Rowena before she is harmed.”

Ava brought up the edge of her apron and wiped at her eyes. “I am ten times the fool. I thought I could keep her out of trouble by accompanying her to the stables. Then she ends up being captured while I am free. I should not be surprised if Sir Philip banishes me from the castle because of this.”

Jared looked at the crying woman, unsure as to what to do. He had little experience comforting the female gender. He brought his hand up and awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. “I do not think that there was much that you could have done,” he said.

A splash of familiar colors caught the corner of his eyes and he felt relieved to see his employer. “There is Sir Philip and his lady wife. Come. Let us go tell him about the abduction.”

Philip looked like he was in a good mood and Jared loathed to dampen his good spirits.

But Ava drew back as if she wished she could disappear into thin air. “What shall I tell them?” she asked, her voice filled with fear.

He pressed his lips into a grim line. “The truth,” he said.

She wiped the remaining tears with her fingers. “He will be angered when he hears the truth.”

“Do not fret, Ava. I shall tell him about Lady Rowena.”

She nodded and swallowed hard as if she couldn’t trust herself to speak.

He pulled her along with him and when they reached Philip, the easy-going expression on his master’s face dropped. His eyes darted from the bleak expression on Jared’s face and the tear streaks on Ava’s.

“Where is my daughter?” he said, frowning.

Jared winced inwardly at the direct question. Philip always got straight to the point. “We will need to organize a rescue party, sire. Lady Rowena has been abducted.”

“What do you mean Rowena has been abducted?” Philip said, his frown deepening. He turned to Ava, his eyes as cold as ice. “What has happened to her?”

Ava flinched as if she was served a physical blow. “She was —”

“The ladies were attacked in the stables earlier, sire.”

The nostrils on Philip’s face flared. “And what were you doing in the stables?” he asked.

“Sir Jonathan asked Lady Rowena to meet her there,” Ava said, miserably. “I went to accompany her.”

“This is odd,” Lorena said, a puzzled look crossing her face. “Is Jonathan not competing in the next joust? How could Sir Jonathan ask Lady Rowena to meet him in the stables when he will be jousting soon?”

“I do not know, my lady,” Ava said, shaking her head. “But I take full blame. I should not have let her go to the stables at all.” The tears started to fall and she wiped them with the corner of her apron. “Lady Rowena is my responsibility and I failed in my duty to her. I am sorry, sire.” She held out her palms as if appealing for Philip’s understanding. “I wanted to stay with her, I truly did, but Lady Rowena forced me to leave and get help. By God, I wish it was me that they took captive.”

“When did this happen?” Philip snapped.

Jared stepped in front of Ava as if to shield her from Philip’s growing rage. He sensed Ava looking at him with surprise at his intervention, but he didn’t return her gaze.

“It has not yet been an hour, sire.” Jared said. “I will set out with my men to search for her before it gets dark.”

A number of people stopped to look over at their direction.

“Perhaps we should move to a less conspicuous place, my lord,” Lorena suggested gently.

Philip glanced around and became conscious of the onlookers. He nodded and they moved to the outskirts of the crowd. “Do what you must to find Rowena,” he said to Jared. “I want to hear news within the hour.”

Philip turned his piercing gaze on Ava, rooting her to one spot. “And you, Nursemaid, come with me to the hall and tell me what you know.”

CHAPTER 26

“My lord,” Lorena said, wincing as if she were afraid that Philip would explode with impatience at any moment. “I am certain that there is a simple explanation for all of this. If you do not sit down, I fear that you will wear down the stone floor with all your pacing.”

Philip grunted, but he stopped and forced himself to relax. He gave Lorena a tight smile. “Perhaps you are right,” he said in a strained voice that didn’t sound very convincing even to him.

He sat down beside his wife and began drumming his fingers on the trestle table. “What is taking Jared so long?” he growled. “It must be long past an hour by now.”

The tournament was over. The guests had expected grand festivities at the completion of the games, but Philip was forced to cancel the entertainment in the great hall. There was no point in keeping up with the facade. At first he hoped that Rowena had run away again, but after hearing Ava’s recount, his heart turned frozen with fear and worry. And now enough people knew that Rowena had gone missing.

Lorena had distributed the prizes and the celebrations had moved into town. Still, there were too many people in the castle, and this added to the chaos.

Whoever took Rowena must have been long gone by now. The one thing he could hope was they were after a ransom and had no plans to harm his little girl.

He rubbed his temples, the beginnings of a headache starting to bloom. He regretted hosting the tournament since it was more trouble than he anticipated.

Lorena sat up straighter in her chair. “They are here,” she said.

He turned his head to the entrance, half hoping that Jared would have Rowena in tow, but the only person by his side was Lorena’s cousin.

“And they have yet to find my daughter,” he said flatly.

“At least we can question Jonathan. Perhaps he knows what has happened to Lady Rowena.”

Both knights came to stand in front of the high table.

Jared stared at the spot just in front of the dais as if he wished that he wasn’t the bearer of bad news. Jonathan meanwhile looked grimly at Jared, waiting for him to speak.

“Well, what news?” Philip asked.

“We searched everywhere, sire,” Jared said, his face pinched. “There is no sign of Lady Rowena. Her palfrey is in its stall, still untied. There seemed to be some sort of struggle and we found this lying on the ground.” He held up a piece of parchment. He unfolded it and brought it over to Philip, laying it flat on the table for him to see.

Philip looked at the parchment as if it was a piece of dirt. “What is this letter?”

He scanned the parchment, and raised questioning eyes to Jonathan.

Jonathan stared back at him. “The letter was not written by my hand, sire,” he said.

“I see.”

But it didn’t appear that Philip saw the significance of the letter.

Jonathan clenched his jaws, a muscle working at the side. It was the Grey Knight, he was sure of it. No one else would dare cross him like this. Somehow the bastard found out about his secret marriage to Rowena and because of her connection to him, he placed her in danger.

Jared cleared his throat. All eyes turned toward him. “Ava said that the man who ordered Lady Rowena’s abduction was referred to as
Lord Knight
and that he had
special
feelings for her.” He looked torn as if he was trying to decide whether he should continue. Then shaking his head, he said, “I have been thinking about this for a long while. And while I am sorry to say this, my nephew Derrik fits this description rather well. He hasn’t been himself of late, and seems to take a disliking to Sir Jonathan here. And his absence makes him suspect.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “No one has seen him since last night’s supper.”

Lorena gasped. “You don’t think Sir Derrik has anything to do with this, do you Sir Jared? Lady Rowena has told me he was like a brother to her.”

“If he is the culprit behind this abduction, he will pay with his life,” Philip said, his voice turning fierce. “And if he took my daughter for ransom, it shows how little he regards
me
and all I’ve done for him.”

Lorena grew alarmed. “Let us not be too hasty. We do not know for a fact that ‘tis Sir Derrik who abducted her.”

“Regardless of who has taken her, this man needs to be caught,” Jonathan cut in.

Philip nodded in agreement. “Aye, and catch him we will.” He turned to Jared. “Gather another ten men and search outside the castle perimeters,” he said. He gripped the table, trying to stop his fingers from trembling. He never questioned the loyalty of his men and the thought that Derrik, one of his rising stars, would betray him shook him to the core. He actually liked the boy and knighted him not too long ago. But what Lorena said was true. He didn’t know for a fact that it was Derrik who was behind the abduction. However if he discovered that the boy was the kidnapper, then he had no choice but to mete out severe punishment.

“I want you to find Sir Derrik,” Philip continued. “And I want him alive for questioning.” He got control of his nerves and pushed himself out of his chair. But he cursed aloud at his quick movement when a shooting pain coursed through his leg and hip, forcing him sit down again.

“Two of my men are out searching for him now, sire,” Jared said. “The rest of the men are questioning the villagers. I will send more men as you request to search the nearby forest.”

“But the sun is now setting,” Lorena said, gesturing to the small window at the far end of the hall. “Will ten men be enough to search for Lady Rowena in the dark?”

“That would not be a problem,” Jonathan said, stepping forward. “My men and I will join in the search for my wife. Just tell us where you want us to go.” He turned to Jared, his face as hard as stone. “You had better pray that your nephew is not behind her disappearance.”

Jared gave a quick shake of his head and stared at him, his eyes wide with surprise. “Did you say she is your wife?”

At Jonathan’s nod, the commander swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I was only voicing my speculation from the little information we received from Ava,” he continued. “There’s still a possibility that my nephew has nothing to do with your wife’s disappearance…”

“‘Tis true,” Lorena said, her voice calm. “We must be rational. We do not have proof that Sir Derrik is behind Lady Rowena’s disappearance. I would find it hard to believe that someone who cares for her would do her harm.”

Jared looked at Lorena as if she was a saint. “Aye, the boy cares for Lady Rowena,” he said.

“Whether the boy cares for my wife matters not. He must be found. Where do think your nephew went?” Jonathan said, turning to Jared.

Jared was spared from answering when Roland, one of Jonathan’s men arrived in the hall, half pulling and half dragging a man behind him.

“We’ve found Sir Derrik, sire,” Roland said unnecessarily. They stood in front of the dais with Derrik leaning heavily at the guard’s side. “He was in one of the stables. A hound found him buried under a pile of hay near the back, all tied up tight and pretty.”

Derrik pushed away from Roland and stood on unsteady legs.

The smooth faced knight hardly looked recognizable. His right eye was bruised, and his lower lip swollen to double its size. His hair was also streaked with dried blood. But despite his weakened condition, he had a fierce expression on his face. “I want vengeance on the bastards who did this to me!” he cried.

“Explain yourself,” Philip said. He unclenched his fists, trying to stop the trembling that was starting again. He willed himself not to panic until he heard the entire story.

Jared stepped closer to his nephew to help support him, but the young knight brushed him aside.

“I received a missive from Lady Rowena to meet her at the stables last evening, sire. When I arrived at the main one, I was attacked by two men and an unknown knight.”

“Have you seen these men before?”

“Nay, I didn’t recognize them. Two men were serfs and the knight with them had his head covered to disguise his face. They took me by surprise. And by the time I realized what was happening, I was tied up with a sack thrown over my head and beaten unconscious.”

“I hope that Lady Rowena does not come to harm,” Lorena said worriedly. “She also received a letter instructing her to go to the stables.”

“I didn’t see Lady Rowena at the stables,” Derrik said.

“Nor do I think you were meant to see her,” Jonathan said. “This entire scheme was a set up to lure Lady Rowena away and to throw us off their scent.”

“Aye,” Derrik said, nodding with distaste. He fingered an object almost absentmindedly. “‘Twould appear that we are victims of some form of trickery.”

Jonathan’s gaze fell to the knight’s hand. And when he saw the piece of darkened wood with a red cloth tied at the end, he froze.

“What is it that you are carrying?” he asked.

The young knight looked at his hand as if he had forgotten that he held the object. “Perhaps you can tell me. The attacking knight shoved this in my tunic before I was tied up. He ordered me to deliver this to you, sire.” He drew his eyebrows down in confusion as he handed the wooden sword over to Jonathan. “I don’t understand why you would need a toy sword.”